Updated ,first published
A young man has been stabbed while walking through a park in a country town west of Brisbane, in what police suspect was an unprovoked attack.
Detective inspector Andrew Trenerry said 23-year-old man was on an afternoon walk with a group of women, one of whom had her child with her in a pram, along a footpath in a Dalby park about 2.30pm when a man approached them.
Trenerry said the 46-year-old man was acting aggressively toward the group, then pulled a knife from his pocket and started slashing at the young man.
The 23-year-old was hit twice in his left arm and suffered “serious lacerations” to the upper part of his arm, Trenerry said.
The alleged assailant then fled the scene, and the 23-year-old’s family members took him to Dalby Hospital.
Trenerry said police were offering resources to witnesses – including family and friends – of the “highly unusual” attack.
“It certainly is traumatic, something like that, and they are part of the investigation,” he said.
Later on Wednesday, the 23-year-old was flown to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a serious condition.
Police did not suspect the men had argued or fought before the attack, and while officers initially believed the two men were not known to each other, Trenerry said on Thursday they were investigating any potential relationship between the pair.
Hours after the alleged attack, about 4pm, police found the 46-year-old about five kilometres away on Oakwood Street North.
He was charged with one count of grievous bodily harm, and was due to appear in Dalby Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Trenerry said police had yet to find the knife used in the attack, and the investigation had uncovered “no known information in relation to drugs”.
He urged anyone who might have seen the alleged attack, or who had video of the incident, to contact Crimestoppers or police directly.
“We have a strong commitment to combating knife crime and that’s reinforced right across the state,” Trenerry said.
“[The] south-west is no different in relation to the scourge that is knife violence.”
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